My First Blog Entry

Hmmm. . . . my first blog entry. . . . how exciting! I am not a great writer but that does not matter this blog is to journal my incredible journey of being a Navy wife and mother and how God encourages and works in my life along the way. I am saddened that I did not start this earlier! Before my actual journal I must say that anyone reading this may get tired of reading about the BEST husband in the world, the BEST sinful children in the world, the BEST parents in the world (referring to my parents!), and the BEST brothers (my brothers) in the world! Please don't take this as obnoxious, I believe God has given me His best and I hope that you believe the same in your life and family. The Lord loves his children and wants to give each of us His best. I do feel incredibly blessed by the life I have been given with all its challenges and joys. My life verse is I Samuel 12:24 "Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you."

My friend Sky came over today and somehow we both had been thinking that I needed to get set up with a blog! I am so thankful she helped me out! Not only that but she brought me a special treat of a caramel coffee!!! Mmm, that is a treat for me!

Aside from the time with my friend Sky and her children my day consisted of . . . Sonja (our 3 month old English Mastiff puppy) pooping in the laundry room, my son Gabriel (5 years old) finding our dog chewing on my Bible and putting a whole in the back cover, a toilet that overflowed MAJORLY all the way to the hallway and onto the carpeting, Ross (my 18 month old) taking a cup and scooping out the water out of the dog dish and throwing it onto the floor, followed by my daughter Annalina (4 years old) taking her dishes to the kitchen after dinner and her cup (with orange juice in it) spilling on the floor which not only was a mess but was very emotionally upsetting to a little girl that is very easily emotionally set off due to a father being gone whom she misses dearly and prays daily for (that daddy will finish his work). This all being preceded the evening before with Ross taking my Bible that I read, underline and write in (things I don't want to lose)etc. and throwing it into a tub full of water (what is the deal with the attack on my Bibles in the last 24 hours!) Fortunately, I had a leather cover on it that protected it! Then that night my dog vomited and I stupidly threw the puke in the rocks outside the door that I send her out to go potty so she would whine during the night and early morning and she would go outside and eat her puke and not always potty. Lesson learned don't throw puke where she can get to it! I say all this to write what makes all this worth while . . . . here's what else happened today . . .

1)Gabriel and Annalina were playing very happily together and Gabriel said to her "Are you happy?" His tone was one of happiness . . . like "I'm happy are you happy?" about a minute later Annalina said "I love God".

2)Annalina came up to me with her hands behind her back saying "I have a surprise for you mommy" then she flung out her hands and gave me a big hug!

3)Here is one of Gabriel's dinner topics:

"When is mother's day?" I said it is in May and it is April now.

"The kids at school {including him he said} have surprises for their mommies and it starts with an "F". "It is not french fries, it's not fire, it's not a fly". "It is beautiful to look at but I won't tell you the rest. { a few SECONDS pass} "The color starts with a P, P thats the only hints I'll give you {again SECONDS} and it grows from a seed but it's not a sunflower it's a different type of flower. It's a type of plant and it's super nice to look at but it's not a rainbow because it stays in the dirt till someone picks it. "Mrs. Jung (his Kindergarten teacher) asked me what color I want" ( from what I gather from the FEW HINTS I got they planted seeds for mother's day in pots). Anyway, Gabriel said "I was thinking of you" "I picked a purple. Do you like purple? I can't tell you it's a secret." A hard secret for a little boy to keep who LOVES flowers and has been waiting for GREEN to arrive! He told me just a few days ago he wants to study flowers and I told him that is called botany and that Grandpa Johnson also loves flowers. As we drive now he gets SOOO excited when he sees flowers and was thrilled that our tree in the front yard is blooming. Even Annalina got excited about green when she yelled awhile ago "GABRIEL there is GREEN grass as she ran in the one area of our lawn that is green right over the septic tank!!

4)Gabriel's other dinner topic: We have been reading the book Farmer Boy by Laura Ingles Wilder after devotions at night. The book has been quite eye opening to Gabriel as to a totally different world one with much more rules and a lot of hard work. It talks of not being able to talk at the table unless he is spoken to. In fact, this morning we were crunched on time to get to school so I had a no talking rule at breakfast just eating. Gabriel and I agreed to call it a Farmer Boy breakfast! It worked WONDERFULLY! Anyway at dinner Gabriel said "I love you Mommy- could Farmer Boy tell his mommy and daddy he loved them?" That was a good question! I said well for sure he couldn't while they ate. Gabriel said "but it is a nice thing to say, that would be a sad day if that were the rule." Not only did Gabriel give me a hug today and tell me he loved me but he hugged Annalina and Ross and told them he loved them and during prayer time at night he thanked God for his Mommy, Daddy, sister, brother, and dog.

5)And Ross, dear sweet Destroyer Ross, whose new name for me is "VA, VA". He can say Ma, Ma but no I am VA, VA!!! Since I haven't been getting recent happening down I want to also say he LOVES to say "yellow" because he now knows we get such a kick out of hearing him say it! It is VERY CUTE! Amazing he can make an L sound!

Those things in my day make the mayhem all worth it. I love being a mom it's the closest I'll ever get to being popular and reaching super hero status (through my kids eyes). But I can't journal without mentioning Brian who I refer to as "Babe". He is currently doing 5 weeks work ups on the Theodore Roosevelt (aircraft carrier off the east coast). He works long hours 15-18 hour days at times in a stretch but he wrote today and said he is getting more and more work given to him on the ship which is a sign people are happy with his work and trust him! I told you I have the best! I miss him dearly and can't wait to see him for a few days in April before he heads back out again.

My new routine is to ride my stationary bike at night for 50 minutes, my goal being 5 days a week. It is good. I told my mom that is feels good when I am done she got a good laugh out of that! I also have started an arm workout every other day that probably takes me about 40 minutes. Hey, my Babe isn't around at night to hang out with so I might as well do something productive and healthy!

Tonight my bike ride went quickly as I talked to my older brother Ben on the phone. He gave me some good pointers on exercise and I was also telling him about some great movies I had seen recently that I thought he'd really like (Amazing Grace and Second Hand Lions). Can't wait to watch them with Brian when he comes back for a visit.

Well, I must say I think I am going to enjoy blogging! I am going to be happy knowing my memories are preserved!